A POPULAR canal festival is returning to Worcestershire on the May bank holiday weekend.

Live music will be blaring from Vines Park in Droitwich as the town welcomes back the annual St Richard’s Canal Festival.

St Richard’s Canal Festival pays homage to St Richard de Wyche, who was born near Droitwich, and to the miracle he performed in the town between 1247 and 1249.

The Droitwich Spa brine had dried up, but after a blessing from the saint, it was said that it started flowing again.

The event usually attracts thousands of visitors each year to the Droitwich park.

The festivities will begin on Friday (May 3) at 5pm, with musical performances and a party night ending at 11pm.

Then Saturday and Sunday will feature more musical guests and a range of real ale.

Saturday morning will also feature the annual ‘Blessing the Upwich Brine Pit’ and procession, which is what St Richard did in Droitwich. 

Bank Holiday Monday will also host the annual Great Droitwich Duck Race, which will start at 4.30pm.

The Worcester-Birmingham & Droitwich Canals Society, Wychavon District Council & Droitwich Town Council help organise the event each year. 

The event hosts a large display of boats moored across the weekend on the canal in Vines Park, alongside displays of boats' historic workings. 

The Pamela May II will be set to make boat trips along the canal for visitors across the weekend. 

St Richard’s Canal Festival will also feature many stalls, an inflatable slide, a duck race, face painting, a WWI exhibition, and judo. 

Admission to the event is free, and it will be held over the weekend in Vines Park, Droitwich.

The festivities in 2022 had marked 250 years since the Droitwich canals were opened and ten years since they were reopened.